Package for blister pack strips

ABSTRACT

A package for blister pack strips comprises a blister guide ( 11 ), a strip guide ( 12 ), a back cover ( 3 ) having a depression ( 10 ) accommodating blisters projecting through the blister guide ( 11 ), and a front cover ( 8 ). The package is made by folding a rectangular sheet ( 1 ) having appropriate cut outs forming blister guides ( 11 ) and strip guides ( 12 ) and being by folding lines ( 5, 7, 9 ) divided into three outer zones comprising an edge zone forming the front cover ( 8 ), an intermediary zone forming the strip guides ( 12 ), and an inner zone forming the blister guides ( 11 ), and a fourth zone forming the back cover ( 3 ).

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119—and incorporates by reference—both provisional application No. 60/313,948, filed Aug. 21, 2001 and Danish application PA 2001 01147, filed Jul. 26, 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The invention relates to packages for medicine in blister packs and a blank for the manufacturing of a package.

[0004] 2. Related Art

[0005] To obtain a sterile storage of medicine tablets or amounts representing a set dose may be packed in blister packs wherein the medicine is stored in a cavity formed as a depression in a sheet of an impermeable plastic material which cavity is sealed by a cover made from a likewise impermeable material. When a dose of the medicine is going to be taken, the cover over one cavity is broken to give access to the stored tablet or medicine. The tablet or medicine may be forced out of the cavity by pressing the protrusion which the cavity forms on the rear side of the sheet.

[0006] As shown in DE 44 29 503 blisters may be arranged in an array on a sheet which may possibly be folded to appear as a small case or a pocket book to be stored in a pocket. Weakening lines may be provided between the cavities so that the cavities can be broken off the sheet to obtain smaller sub stores or to allow successive disposal of emptied blisters.

[0007] By some medicaments a blister containing one dose must be inserted in a special administrating apparatus. By such medicaments the blister package must appropriately allow the blisters to be broken off one by one or the package must have the shape of a strip or a band with blisters lying on a line so that the blisters may consecutively be fed into the administering device.

[0008] It may be preferred to have the blisters separated so that a strip, which is designed to be inserted into an administrating apparatus, carries only one blister at its end. Such strips must be carried in a box or a pill bottle from which they can be taken one at the time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An objective of the invention is to provide a package for convenient storing of such blister pack strips.

[0010] This is obtained by a package for blister pack strips having a certain width and which carries at their one end a blister having a certain diameter perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip, which package comprises,

[0011] a blister guide, having a front and a rear side and having cut outs each with a breadth corresponding to diameter of a blister,

[0012] a strip guide having a front and a rear side and having cut outs each with a breadth corresponding to the breadth of a strip and being by its rear side fixed to the front side of the blister guide so that strips can be located in the cut outs of the strip guide with their blisters projecting into and through the cut outs of the blister guide,

[0013] a back cover fixed to the rear side of the blister guide and having a depression accommodating the blisters projecting through the blister guide, and

[0014] a front cover fixed to the front side of the strip guide.

[0015] According to an embodiment of the invention the back cover may be formed by a sheet which has at both its ends a depression and over this depression a blister strip holder comprising, a blister guide, a strip guide, and a cover, the back cover being provided with central folding lines parallel with the blister strip holders allowing said common back sheet to be folded to form a booklet shaped folder with the covers of the two blister strip holders abutting each other. Hereby a wallet like package is provided which can easily be carried in a pocket.

[0016] The package may be manufactured from cardboard and preferably from one sheet which is provided with the necessary depression and cut outs to form the holders by folding and gluing.

[0017] A raw sheet for the manufacturing of a package may comprise a rectangular sheet having a central folding line parallel with a short side of the rectangle and dividing the rectangle into two symmetric parts each having four zones defined by folding lines parallel with the a short side of the rectangle, three outer zones having the same width, and a broader fourth zone adjacent to the central folding line, the three outer zones comprising an edge zone having no cut outs, an intermediary zone having strip guide cut outs, and an inner zone having blister guide cut outs, the strip guide cut outs beginning at a first folding line defining the transition between the intermediary zone and the inner zone and ending a first distance from a second folding line defining the transition between the middle zone and the edge zone, and the blister guide cut outs beginning at the first folding line and ending a second distance from a third folding line defining the transition between the inner zone and the fourth zone, the fourth zone being provided with a depression parallel with the folding lines in a third distance from the third folding line, the third distance being smaller than the second distance and the depression having a width so that the sum of the third distance and the width of the depression is smaller than the width of each of the three outer zones.

[0018] In the following the invention is described in further details with references to the drawing, wherein

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019]FIG. 1 shows schematically a raw sheet from which a package can be made by folding and gluing,

[0020]FIG. 2 shows a raw sheet with depressions and cuttings ready for folding to a wallet for storing strips each carrying one blister,

[0021]FIG. 3 shows the sheet of FIG. 2 folded backward about its central folding line,

[0022]FIG. 4 shows the sheet of FIG. 3 with a forward folding along a folding line at the transition between the zone containing the depression and the zone carrying blister guides,

[0023]FIG. 5 shows the sheet of FIG. 4 with a backward folding along a folding line at the transition between the zone carrying the blister guides and a zone carrying strip guides,

[0024]FIG. 6 shows strips with blisters ready for being placed in the combined blister and strip guides formed by the folding in FIG. 5,

[0025]FIG. 7 shows the strips in FIG. 6 placed in the combined blister, and strip guides,

[0026]FIG. 8 shows the sheet of FIG. 7 with the a forward folding of an edge zone along a line between the zone carrying the strip guides and said edge zone which by this folding covers the blister carrying end of the strips, and

[0027]FIG. 9 a wallet obtained by a forward folding along the central folding line.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] A raw sheet ready for the manufacturing of a package for strips carrying a blister is schematically shown in FIG. 1 and its real appearance is illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0029] A mainly rectangular sheet 1 has parallel with its short edges a pair of central folding lines 2 about which the sheet can be folded. Each of the halves on the respective sides of the central folding lines 2 comprises four zones which are separated by folding lines parallel with the central folding line 2 and the short edges of the rectangle, a central zone 3 adjacent to the central folding lines 2, an inner blister guide zone 4 adjacent to the central zone 3 along a folding line 5, an intermediary strip guide zone 6 adjacent to the blister guide zone 4 along a folding line 7, and an edge cover zone 8 adjacent to the strip guide zone 6 along a folding line 9. The zones 4, 6, and 8 has equal widths whereas the zone 3 is somewhat broader than said other zones.

[0030] The central zone 3 has a depression 10 which lowers the surface of the shown front side of the sheet about 2 mm providing a corresponding protrusion on the back side of the sheet. The length of the depression is so that not depressed bands are left at the ends of the depression. The depression 10 starts at a distance “a” from the folding line 5, where the central zone 3 meets the inner zone 4, and has a width so that the distance from the folding line 5 to the edge of the depression facing the central folding lines 2 is smaller than the width of the inner zone 4.

[0031] The inner zone 4 is provided with cut outs 11 which starts at the folding line 7 where the zone 4 meets the zone 6 and ends at a distance “b” from the folding line 5, where the zone 4 meets the zone 3, and has a width which with an appropriate play corresponds to the diameter of the blisters of the blister packs which are going to be stored in the resulting wallet.

[0032] The intermediary zone 6 is provided with cut outs 12 which starts at the folding line 7 and connects to the cut outs 11 in the inner zone 4. The cut outs 12 ends in a distance “c” from the folding line 9, where the zone 6 meets the zone 8. The cut outs 12 has a width, which with an appropriate play corresponds to the width of the blister carrying strips, which the resulting wallet is provided for.

[0033] The folding lines 2, 5 and 9 are shown as solid lines and the folding about these lines during the manufacturing process is designed as a forward folding, i.e. a folding upward relative to the plane of the shown sheet 1. The folding line 7 is shown as a dotted line 7 to indicate that the folding about this line oppositely is a backward folding, i.e. a folding towards the back of the sheet 1. The folding lines 2 could have been one folding line but two lines adjacent to each other are preferred to create a kind of book back.

[0034] The steps of the manufacturing process are illustrated in the FIGS. 2-9. FIG. 2 shows the raw sheet with its depressions and cut outs ready for folding.

[0035] The first folding is a backward folding about the folding line 2 as shown in FIG. 3. Above this folding line was described as a line for forward folding but this is due to the fact that the folding along this line is a forward folding in the end product.

[0036] By the next step the outer end of the sheet is folded forward along the folding line 5 to cover the central zone 3. Where the zone 4 abuts the zone 3, i.e outside the depression, it is glued to this zone.

[0037] Thereafter a backward folding along the line 7 will make parts of the zone 6 abut parts of the zone 4 and the abutting parts can be glued together. By the described folding a number of chambers are provided suited for the accommodation of strips with blisters.

[0038]FIG. 6 shows a wallet on this step and strips 13 carrying blisters 14 ready to be placed in the wallet. As it is seen in the figure the blister has a protrusion on the side facing the depression in the central zone whereas the side turning away from this zone is a mainly plane cover sheet 15 covering the cavity, which is provided in the strip by the forming or the blister. The blisters 14 fit into the cut outs 11 which are ending in a half circle to give a good support for the blisters, and the strips 13 which are necessarily broader than the blisters fit into the cut outs 12 which are correspondingly broader than the blisters.

[0039]FIG. 7 shows the strips with the blisters placed in the wallet that is finished by folding the outer zone 8 forward up against the zone 6 and gluing the abutting parts of these zones together. A final forward folding about the central folding lines 2 makes the two strip holding envelopes abut each other and makes the whole package appear as a paper wallet as shown in FIG. 9.

[0040] A label glued at both sides of the meeting edges of the envelopes so that this labes must be broken to get access to the strips may close this wallet. This way an unbroken label can indicate that the content of the wallet has not yet been taken into use.

[0041] The gluing is not necessarily provided over all the abutting surfaces but can be provided as point shaped gluings within the abutting areas to provide the package with the necessary flexibility to allow the strips with the blisters to be pulled out of the pockets wherein they are stored. 

We claim:
 1. A package for blister pack strips having a certain width and which carries at their one end a blister having a certain diameter perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the strip, characterised in that it comprised comprises: a blister guide, having a front and a rear side and having cut outs each with a breadth corresponding to a diameter of a blister; a strip guide having a front and a rear side and having cut outs each with a breadth corresponding to the breadth of a strip and being by its rear side fixed to the front side of the blister guide so that strips can be located in the cut outs of the strip guide with their blisters projecting into and through the cut outs of the blister guide; a back cover fixed to the rear side of the blister guide and having a depression accommodating the blisters projecting through the blister guide; and a front cover fixed to the front side of the strip guide.
 2. A package according to claim 1, characterised in that the back cover is formed by a sheet which has at both its ends a depression and over this depression a blister strip holder comprising, a blister guide, a strip guide, and a cover, the back cover being provided with central folding lines parallel with the blister strip holders allowing said common back sheet to be folded to form a booklet shaped folder with the covers of the two blister strip holders abutting each other.
 3. A package according to claim 2, characterised in that it is manufactured from one sheet which is provided with the necessary depression and cut outs to form the holders by folding and gluing.
 4. The package according to claim 3, wherein a blank sheet for the manufacturing of a package according to claim 3, comprises a rectangular sheet having a central folding line parallel with a short side of the rectangle and dividing the rectangle into two symmetric parts each having four zones defined by folding lines parallel with the a short side of the rectangle, three outer zones having the same width, and a broader fourth zone adjacent to the central folding line, the three outer zones comprising an edge zone having no cut outs, an intermediary zone having strip guide cut outs, and an inner zone having blister guide cut outs, the strip guide cut outs beginning at a first folding line defining the transition between the intermediary zone and the inner zone and ending a first distance from a second folding line defining the transition between the middle zone and the edge zone, and the blister guide cut outs beginning at the first folding line and ending a second distance from a third folding line defining the transition between the inner zone and the fourth zone, the fourth zone being provided with a depression parallel with the folding lines in a third distance from the third folding line, the third distance being smaller than the second distance and the depression having a width so that the sum of the third distance and the width of the depression is smaller than the width of each of the three outer zones 